im ‧ pair /ɪmˈpeə $ -ˈper/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: empeirer , from Vulgar Latin impejorare , from Late Latin pejorare 'to make worse' ]
to damage something or make it not as good as it should be:
The illness had impaired his ability to think and concentrate.
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THESAURUS
▪ harm to have a bad effect on someone or something:
Many women said parenthood harmed their careers.
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A little hard work never harmed anyone.
▪ damage to harm something badly. Damage is more serious than harm :
His reputation was damaged and his career was in ruins.
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The affair has damaged people’s confidence in the government.
▪ be bad for somebody/something to be likely to harm someone or something:
Too much fatty food is bad for you.
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All this rain is bad for business.
▪ be detrimental to something formal to be bad for something:
The new housing development will be detrimental to the character of this small town.
▪ impair formal to harm something, especially someone’s ability to do something or the correct working of a system:
Any amount of alcohol that you drink will impair your ability to drive.
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His vision was impaired.
▪ prejudice /ˈpredʒədəs, ˈpredʒʊdəs/ to have a bad effect on the future success of something:
Don’t do anything to prejudice our chances of winning.